Plane makers work on cure for jet lag

(LUBBOCKONLINE) — LE BOURGET, France — Here’s a look at some innovations from this week’s Paris Air Show:

JET-LAG CURE?

You know how you feel — and look — when you get off a trans-Atlantic flight? Exhausted, blood-shot eyes, swollen ankles. Partially that’s jet-lag. But partially that’s because you’ve effectively been up a mountain for several hours, with all that entails, including increased heart rate and shortness of breath.

Some manufacturers are working to reduce those effects — thanks to new composite materials that are more fatigue-resistant themselves. Currently, commercial jets fly at between 35,000 and 45,000 feet and pressurize their cabins to bring what your body feels down to around 8,000 feet.